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Simply Perfect

Great Film overall

Good concept, poorly executed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Angèle is a young woman, trying to renew contact with her son, living with his grandparents. She is, after serving some years in prison, conscious of the difficulty to be a mother. A good mother. She is the reason for her husbands death. But, as she says: an accident. With her not easy background she meets the shy fisherman Tony to work for him (in mind a marriage that makes possible to get her child - be near him. The grandparents have the custody. Her son, having not seen his mother during prison-time is cautious. Angèle must prove the judge in charge of her case her capability as a mother and married woman. Angèle's background, the shy Tony, his suspicious mother and her sons grandparents are serious difficulties waiting for her to take. But: now and then polarities are not a hinder but the help as only way of understanding when nothing is left and the base for marriage. Yohan asks Tony if muscles bites. The answer: the three drive to the beach for the answer of the boy's question. His question can be regarded as metaphor. Both Angèle and Tony are closed as clams. But sometimes: if time and space permits polarities to decide can polarities be of help for each other. Clams do not bite

"Angele et Tony" was a surprise when it was shown on a French cable channel recently. Directed and co-written by Alix Delaporte. It is a small picture about ordinary people that come together in an unexpected way. One can easily identify with the simple story that M. Delaporte has created.Angele, a young woman recently released from prison, after serving four years, wants to be near her son that has been living with her parents. The boy feels badly because the rejection he perceives happened when his mother disappeared from his life. Angele must find an employment that will prove to the judge in charge of her case she is a reformed woman capable of regaining her son's custody.The only thing available for Angele is working as a fishmonger for Tony, the fisherman who works with his mother selling what he gets from the sea. Tony, a heavyset man, is a shy person, as it is obvious he is also afraid of being rejected by any woman he might decide to go after. Living and working with his mother, things become hard for the young Angele to overcome. After all, she has no experience.It is not hard to think that Tony wants to help Angele, even going against his better judgment and upsetting his own mother, but Angele is able to overcome her initial awkwardness and suddenly she gains Tony's mother trust, as well as his love, something that was hidden behind their outward acceptance of one another.Alix Delaporte got an ensemble atmosphere for his project. Clotilde Esme is lovely as Angele. Gregoire Gadebois, a member of the prestigious Comedy Francaise, makes an impression as Tony, the fisherman with a heart of gold. Evelyn Didi plays Myriam, Tony's mother. Claire Mathon's cinematography takes us along the Normandy coast to picturesque fishing villages and other places capturing the atmosphere of the area. Mathieu Maestracci contributed to the music score. M. Delaporte shows he is a natural for being behind the camera and one can only hope he will go far in his next venture.

My Filipino friend picks up the French movies, well nearly all the times French. Most of the time,including the four of us, we are only a dozen of people in the cinema. And now the time is right for the movie to start - here it comes, slow, with some unusual beauty, bestial beauty? It's too early to know - the main character seems aloof, troubled and things are a little strange, the story goes on still fairly slow...Is something going to happen? But soon our patience gets rewarded, this slow introduction starts to reveal the why and how. People interact, cautiously. I did get on the French news, here down under, that fishing as a profession suffered hardship with European quota imposition and I understand what is happening to this small community. It's nice to have some insight in what is going on, else it could be perceived as fabricated. But really here little is fabricated just narrated in a beautiful way in a beautiful but very real setting, yes with perhaps unlikely events but not impossible. What'll become of Angele and Tony? Well just like me you'll need to sit through to find out the right way, that is do not start with the last page or here reading comments with spoilers. That's right it would spoil it!

Having been a journalist and a documentary maker before turning to fiction, it is hardly surprising to find that Alix Delaporte has a talent for capturing reality. In "Angèle et Tony", the time is now and it shows: Angèle, Tony, their family and friends are indeed people that you could meet down the street, at the baker's or at your local café. Likewise, the place, a small fishing harbor in Normandy, is anything but artificial. Shot entirely on location in Port-en-Bessin (a small town by the sea which was already the setting of Marcel Carné's "La Marie du Port"in 1949 and of Zanuck's "The Longest Day" in 1962), the film gives you the feeling you have always lived there, all that lacks being the spray of the sea and the smell of fish! Socially speaking, "Angèle et Tony" is grounded in reality as well. The hardships of being among the last fishermen in France and the struggle to survive as such are aspects that are examined seriously, albeit briefly, through descriptions, conversations and tense confrontation with the police. Last but not least, the relationships between the characters ring true: Angèle, Tony, Tony's mother, face and confront each other using ordinary everyday words, in close connection with their immediate environment.On the other hand, Alix Delaporte does not mistake realism for naturalism, which is a good point. Sure, Angèle has a troubled past but the writer-director does not dwell on it. Agreed, a fisherman's life is no life of roses, but Alix Delaporte shows them taking action not moaning about their lot. Granted, the relationships between Angèle and Tony are difficult but this is not the point. The real point is to show how these strangers, who have apparently nothing in common, will open to each other and try to exist as a couple, becoming better human beings in the process. Such a positive dynamic makes "Angèle et Tony", a potentially depressing drama, a pleasant movie, both instructive and entertaining.The leading couple is a sure-handed choice and contributes to the success of Alix Delaporte's first fictional effort. Clotilde Hesme constantly finds the right note, managing to combine stubborn aggressiveness and touching frailty. And Gregory Gadebois turns in an interesting performance as a life-like fisherman, withdrawn and brooding, but hiding romantic feelings behind this facade. His restrained acting style is so natural that you would never think he is a member of the Comédie-Française.All in all a good film, but which could have been even better had the director avoided a few lengthy passages, in particular when it comes to Angèle riding her bike. Why spend so much film time on scenes that do not bring much to the whole thing (Okay Angèle zigzags, a metaphor of her wayward ways, but she does it too often and too long : five seconds are enough to get the point!) while there are more interesting aspects which would benefit from a more in-depth approach? However this is only a minor defect and it should not deter you from spending an hour and a half in the company of Angèle and Tony.